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Transfer to Switched Account Gone Missing

Hi,

Daughter transferred £2500 from her Halifax current account to my current account using an "existing payee" that she'd used before for money transfers. Unfortunately, she'd not realised that I transferred my current account from Halifax (existing payee) to a Nationwide account using Nationwide's switching service 18mths ago.

Realising what had happened when the funds hadn't arrived, she spoke to Halifax and they advised her to file a  payment in error / credit recovery report.This she duly did and has since been informed that the money has left the Halifax and whilst the Halifax have contacted the recipient's bank, the recipient's bank has forwarded the funds to the recipient and therefore they can not recover the funds.

Oh and they advise next steps - take professional legal advice.

I speak to Nationwide, both the adviser and her management confirm that there is no evidence of any transfer being made in, nor is there is evidence of a trace / contact from Halifax re: this transaction.

My daughter spent 90mins on the phone to Halifax earlier, I spent 2h on the phone to them as the owner of the account that has been switched but to no avail. The adviser I spoke to couldn't understand what had happened - as the account was switched within the last 3y, either my old Halifax account would redirect it to the Nationwide account, or it would bounce the funds back to my daughter's Halifax. There should be a clear audit trail showing the money going from daughter's Halifax account, to my switched Halifax account to my Nationwide account. No one can help, a bank process has syphoned the money off somewhere and no one can tell me where it is, and provide reassurance that it will be returned to my daughter to forwarded to me.

Any advice / what to do next? Daughter is beside herself with worry as she thinks she's lost the money. TIA

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Comments

  • penners324
    penners324 Posts: 3,362 Forumite
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    The account / bank you've switched to need to take responsibility for this.

    Provide them with the payment information, including the unique payment number provided by Halifax.

    Under CASS rules that is the correct procedure 
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 35,277 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I spent 2h on the phone to them as the owner of the account that has been switched but to no avail. The adviser I spoke to couldn't understand what had happened - as the account was switched within the last 3y, either my old Halifax account would redirect it to the Nationwide account, or it would bounce the funds back to my daughter's Halifax. There should be a clear audit trail showing the money going from daughter's Halifax account, to my switched Halifax account to my Nationwide account.
    Just to clarify, the post-switch redirection is handled by a central BACS-run engine, so the money doesn't go via the old account as such.

    However, the fact that your old account was with the same bank as the sender's may influence this somehow, if Halifax perhaps use some variant of the standard transfer process for 'internal' ones.

    Realising what had happened when the funds hadn't arrived, she spoke to Halifax and they advised her to file a  payment in error / credit recovery report.This she duly did and has since been informed that the money has left the Halifax and whilst the Halifax have contacted the recipient's bank, the recipient's bank has forwarded the funds to the recipient and therefore they can not recover the funds.

    Oh and they advise next steps - take professional legal advice.
    I think she's been given poor advice here - there should be no need to file a misdirected payment report for sending money to an account that's been switched, as it's intended for use when (for example) miskeying a number.  The reference to the recipient's bank not being able to recover funds rings alarm bells, have Halifax confirmed (or can she see from her app or online banking) that the money was definitely sent to your old account details?
  • Hoenir
    Hoenir Posts: 5,637 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 25 June 2024 at 6:42PM
    When was the transfer made. Most likely it's sitting in an internal suspense account awaiting processing somewhere. As this is undertaken manually might be some time.  Banks unfortunately won't prioritise a single transaction just work their way though the pile one by one. 
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,426 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Daughter transferred £2500 from her Halifax current account to my current account using an "existing payee" that she'd used before for money transfers.

    Is she absolutely certain that the existing payee account to which the payment was directed was in fact your old account?

  • thewagster
    thewagster Posts: 13 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper First Anniversary
    Thanks @penners324 and @eskbanker

    Advice from both banks has been very poor - spoke to Nationwide (bank I've switched to) for the third time today. I'd read up on CASS overnight - Nationwide's representative disagreed and read an extract from their procedures which puts the onus on the transferring bank. The representative couldn't offer me any process for Nationwide to investigate what had happened.

    @eskbanker Halifax have confirmed to my daughter that the money has definitely been sent to my old account.

    Daughter has raised a complaint with Halifax. I've contacted CASS asking them for advice re: what I should do - they've responded very quickly and rather than provide advice, they will look into the matter.

    Finger crossed!


  • thewagster
    thewagster Posts: 13 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper First Anniversary
    xylophone said:
    Daughter transferred £2500 from her Halifax current account to my current account using an "existing payee" that she'd used before for money transfers.

    Is she absolutely certain that the existing payee account to which the payment was directed was in fact your old account?

    Absolutely certain. Halifax have confirmed that at least

  • HillStreetBlues
    HillStreetBlues Posts: 5,024 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Homepage Hero Photogenic

    Thanks @penners324 and @eskbanker

    Advice from both banks has been very poor - spoke to Nationwide (bank I've switched to) for the third time today. I'd read up on CASS overnight - Nationwide's representative disagreed and read an extract from their procedures which puts the onus on the transferring bank. The representative couldn't offer me any process for Nationwide to investigate what had happened.


    Nationwide are wrong, they have signed up to the Switch agreement and the guarantee states.
    We will arrange for payments accidentally made to
    your old account to be automatically redirected to
    your new account. We will also contact the sender
    and give them your new account details. 
    I would be making a complaint to the Nationwide.
    Let's Be Careful Out There
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,426 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper


    I've contacted CASS asking them for advice re: what I should do - they've responded very quickly and rather than provide advice, they will look into the matter.

    https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/

    Current Account

    Switch Guarantee

    We have designed the Current Account Switch Service

    to let you switch your current account from one bank

    or building society to another in a simple, reliable and

    stress-free way. It will only take seven working days.

    As your new current-account provider we offer the

    following guarantee.

    • The service is free to use and you can choose and

    agree your switch date with us.

    • We will take care of moving all your payments

    going out (for example, your Direct Debits and

    standing orders) and those coming in (for example,

    your salary).

    • If you have money in your old account, we will

    transfer it to your new account on your switch date.

    • We will arrange for payments accidentally made to

    your old account to be automatically redirected to

    your new account. We will also contact the sender

    and give them your new account details.



    https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/switching-services/current-account-switch-service/


    The Current Account Switch Service makes switching a current account between banks and building societies simple, reliable and stress-free. The service is free-to-use and available to individuals, small businesses, charities and trusts.

    Launched in 2013, the service has gone on to facilitate the switching of over nine million current accounts in the UK, and helped to transform a process which previously could be lengthy and complicated, and which carried uncertainty that all payments would be captured in a switch. It has also been highlighted as an example of best practice, with countries around the world interested in replicating its success.

    Importantly, the service is backed by a switch guarantee, ensuring that all payments associated with the customer’s old account, which is closed on completion, will be switched to the new account and ready for use with effect from a pre-agreed switch date.

    As a result of a switch, which takes seven working days, any payments that continue to be made to, or collected from, the old account will be automatically redirected to the customer’s new account. The redirection facility will be undertaken for a minimum of three years or longer if needed.

  • thewagster
    thewagster Posts: 13 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper First Anniversary
    Thanks @xylophone and @HillStreetBlues - I'd read up on CASS (couldn't post the link as a relative newbie on here) but despite me reading this out to the customer service representative, their procedures apparently say no and I can't ask them to escalate.

    I'll see what CASS do, I'll get the money found and then the complaint will be made,
  • Ergates
    Ergates Posts: 2,781 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    eskbanker said:

    However, the fact that your old account was with the same bank as the sender's may influence this somehow, if Halifax perhaps use some variant of the standard transfer process for 'internal' ones.

    Yes:  Banks often don't use BACS/FPS to transfer money between accounts internally as they have to pay for the service.  This means it wouldn't have gone through the BACs system.
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